Twisted Christianity; Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Christianity, like most religions, is well-intended and has goodness and kindness at its core. The Golden Rule of treating others as we would like to be treated is a good thing. People who follow any religion that adheres to the basic tenets of goodness and kindness to their fellow man have my full support. While I no longer follow any religion, I respect those who do. I also respect those who do not follow any specific religious doctrine but live their lives with decency and respect for others.

The question raised in my title has to do with what now passes as “religion,” but abandons the teachings of their faith. They ask, What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) but ignore the truthful answer. I speak of the “religious” movement labeled White Christian Nationalism (WCN). As one might deduce from just the title, race plays an important role in this movement. It has, using assimilation, many within the evangelical movement. According to a Pew Research poll, 24% of Americans identify as evangelical, and 68% of those are avid Trump supporters.

Some would trace the White Christian Nationalism movement back to 1954 and the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision that deemed racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. That decision was 9-0. Part of the backlash following that decision was the expansion of private religious schools that relied on the constitutional separation of church and state to continue with their brand of “separate but equal.”

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
the first televangelist

While the Brown decision may have provided the initial impetus for Christians to begin twisting the teachings of their Bible to protect their racist beliefs, it was the movement of televangelism that brought money and power to the equation. The first such “televangelist” was the Catholic bishop, Fulton J. Sheen in 1951, who enjoyed a wide following. I watched him at his blackboard as he explained Catholicism and, between takes, his invisible angel erased that board for his next segment. He preceded the likes of Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Pat Robertson, and Kenneth Copeland. There was money and power in preaching with Kenneth Copeland said to be worth over $750M.

Kenneth Copeland and his $36M jet
that brings him closer to God

Copeland and Trump have a few things in common. They both like money and will do anything to get as much as possible. Copeland, in one instance, promised relief for Haiti and solicited donations for that purpose. He then spent that money to repair one of his airplanes. Trump has similarly conned people with his scam Trump Foundation “charity” that was nothing but a slush fund for him and his children. Both Copland and Trump have been married three times.

With that much money at stake, it is no wonder that some of these individuals would seek to maximize their impact with appeals to some of the baser instincts of their followers. This would entail a further twisting of the teachings of Jesus and a headlong move into politics. It was no more about “spreading the word,” it was about motivating people to part with their money. Separation of church and state was no longer convenient; separation of people from their money was paramount. It is a one-way street where religion can be intricately involved in government and politics but the government must keep their hands off their religion, especially their money.

Many leaders of the religious right promoted fear and talk of Armageddon. Their followers were told that their American way of life was under attack. Their only recourse was to wrap themselves in the flag, carry a Bible, a gun, and a cross, and defend with violence if necessary those who oppose their will. The angry militant extremists we saw in Washington on January 6th had received the message from their leaders and were willing to overthrow our democracy to ensure that this nation would be run as a Christian-based society. They falsely claim that America was founded upon Christian beliefs and a return to that ideal may require violence.

This group would have its followers believe that America was the “Promised Land” for Europeans and want to ignore the fact that these same people were fleeing religious persecution. They no longer wanted a mandated national religion as had existed throughout Europe. They eventually drafted our Constitution that expressly outlined that objective. The white Christian nationalists would have you believe the Constitution gives them the mandate to enforce Christian beliefs as laws governing all Americans.

Perhaps they have their personal Delorean time machines and have rediscovered the mandate of Pope Nicholas V in 1452 that granted Portuguese king Alfonso V the right, “To invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens [Muslims] and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.” This decree, a so-called Doctrine of Discovery, justified African slavery and a form of white supremacy for lands yet undiscovered.

Pope Nick V

I’ve read our Constitution and I see no reference to the Pope Nicholas V decree. I do see, however, the First Amendment that states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Even with that level of clarity in the opening line of the First Amendment, a recent Brookings Institute survey asked people if they agreed or disagreed that, “God intended America to be a new promised land where European Christians could create a society that could be an example to the rest of the world.” The response was that 30% of Americans agreed with that statement. This figure was even higher (52%) among Republicans and higher still (56%) among evangelical Protestants.

With the specter of Armageddon threatening their way of life and the manufactured religious mandate of outlawing all abortions without regard to consequence, this new White Christian National movement has slogans like God and Guns, borrowed from the Lynyrd Skynyrd album of that name. Violence is an accepted response to that perceived threat. People died and many were injured in the violence surrounding January 6th with much of it done under the guise of religious fervor and misguided patriotism as directed by their appointed Messiah, Donald Trump.

Many within this movement believe that Donald Trump is devout. They can ignore what he says and does. Infidelity, rape, sex with porn stars, lying, cheating, stealing, conning students, etc., are minor character flaws that can be overlooked. We know he held a Bible once and had his picture taken outside a church. What more proof do you need of his religiosity?

All WCNs would consider themselves evangelicals but not all evangelicals are WCNs. Some evangelicals are merely devout followers of “the good news” of salvation or the gospel. The term evangelical comes from the Greek word euangelion which essentially means good news. Evangelicals are important in the political arena as they are the essential core of the Republican base. In this new age of extremism, politics and God are equals.

Evangelicals are well represented in the Bible Belt that is most prominent in north Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, southern and western Virginia, West Virginia, upstate South Carolina, and east Texas. There are other strongholds of evangelical support outside the traditional Bible Belt that includes Missouri, Oklahoma, and Florida.

Twisted Christianity? Yes, the Republican Party now has a White Christian Nationalist component that promises its unwavering support as long as that party does its bidding. White Christian Nationalist Mike Johnson is now the Speaker of the House and could be the poster child for the WCN movement.

If you are anti-Black, anti-immigrant, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and/or anti-LGBTQ, you can put on your MAGA hat, put on your American flag shirt, wave your Bible, and your message may not be challenged because you are a patriotic Christian. With Trump as your savior, the shield of infallibility is yours. As long as you profess that you are a white Christian conservative, your views may not be challenged. You have God on your side.

WWJD has been replaced by WWTD